3/19/2018

So yesterday we had a Trump Twitter meltdown, with the Tweeter in Chief mentioning Robert Mueller by name on Twitter for what I’m told is the first time. At the same time, numerous GOP pols and ex-pols — Trump friends and foes alike — took to the Sunday shows to warn Trump that firing Trump would be a bad, bad idea. Now Axios reports that Trump’s lawyer is atttempting to reassure one and all that no, no, of course he is not considering that! Don’t be silly! How many times do we have to say this?

After a weekend at war with the Mueller investigation, the White House is extending an olive branch. Ty Cobb, the White House lawyer handling the probe, plans to issue this statement:

“In response to media speculation and related questions being posed to the Administration, the White House yet again confirms that the President is not considering or discussing the firing of the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller.”

Hey, look. In order to keep this story dramatic, we have to ping pong back and forth between the “will he or won’t he?” speculation. It’s part of what keeps you coming back day after day. So after a fever-pitch Sunday replete with frenetic Trump tweets and Maggie Haberman pieces about a newly unleashed Trump, we need a breather until the next freakout.

P.S. One thing noted by Allahpundit in all those warnings by GOP politicians: they don’t seem to have a Plan B, do they?

Every Republican who turned up on the Sunday shows this morning was either dismissive of, or openly hostile to, the idea that Trump would try to fire Mueller. And I don’t just mean anti-Trumpers like Jeff Flake. Trump buddy Chris Christie and Trump ally Lindsey Graham both steered him away from it, although whether they would do anything about it if Trump ignored them and pulled the trapdoor on Mueller is a separate question. It’s often said that the GOP establishment is terrified of Trump but that’s not true. They’re terrified of Trump’s voters, their own ostensible base, and Trump’s voters will back him to the hilt in any standoff with Mueller.

I could run a poll here right now as to whether Trump should fire Mueller, and my guess is it would run within ten points of a coin flip. But if he actually did it, then by the time the idiotic #Resistance declared the End of the World, and the spinners went into overdrive to smear Mueller and his team, a similar poll asking “WAS he right to do it” would net an overwhelming majority in favor.

And that ties the politicians’ hands. They can tut-tut all they like, but if Trump fires the guy, the GOP won’t do a damned thing.

So tune in for the next episode of “Will He or Won’t He?” No need to wait until next week.

UPDATE: The GOP pols warned that firing Mueller (not Trump) would be a bad idea. I have fixed the typo.

Presumably they would say the same thing about firing Trump. Some of them, anyway.

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